Coupling device



Sept. 18, 1934-. A. J. BAzELEY COUPLING DEVICE Filed Dec. l. 1931 INVENTOR rlzar Ja/zelg/ Patented Sept. 1.8, 1934 naar COUPLING DEVICE Arthur J. Bazeley, Cleveland, Ohio, assigner to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 1, 1931, Serial No. 578,289

11 Claims.

This invention relates to car couplers and par` ticularly to those of the top-operated type. An object of the invention is the provision of an improved lock-lifter mechanism including a lockto-t'ne-lock which positively holds the lock not only against creeping to knuckle-unlocking position but also against movement to such position in response to sudden blows, especially those due to high-speed or impact coupling. A further object is to provide a lock lifter mechanism embodying an improved lock-to-thelock having the characteristics above noted, and which at the same time may be readily operated manually to raise the lock to unlocking position. rIhe invention is especially concerned with constructions of the general character disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 423,037, led January 24, 1930. Other features of the invention will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, 1Eig. l is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of a car coupler showing my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed view showing the position of the lock lifting mechanism under conditions of impact coupling. Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 but with the lifter raised and the lock in lock-setposition- Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view showing a modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, my invention is shown applied to a coupler of the standard D or E type, comprising a head A, knuckle B, knuckle-thrower C, and lock D. My improved lock lifter, in some respects similar to the construction described and claimed in my copending application above referred to, is designated generaliy at E and comprises an upper member 2 and a lower member 3, the latter having a hookshaped lower portion engageable with a cross bar or trunnion 4 which bridges a slot 5 in the lock. The upper member 2 projects through an opening 6 in the coupler head and has its lower end bifurcated to receive the upper end of the lower member 3, said members being connectedby a pin '7 carried by the upper member and passing through a slot 8 in the lower member. The parts are so arranged that the weightfof they Yupper `member 2 causes the lower member 3to'v break to the rear and when the lock is in lowermostV `as at 2' in order not to interfere With'the free.'v

(Cl. Z13- 127) action of the top of member 3. The upper lifter member 2, when in its normal or lowermost position wherein it rests upon the coupler head, is supported through projection 15 upon a top opening 6 but is not supported by the top surface of the coupler head forward of said opening.

portion of the coupler head to the rear of the Through this arrangement, the occurrence of a sudden upward movement of the coupler imparts an upward impulse to projection l5 and causes the lower end of member 2 to tend to swing rearwardly during its upward movement; there-.- by, through the cooperation of pin 7 with theV rear side 3' of slot 8 maintaining the shoulder 9 under the ledge 10. To facilitate the unlocking of the knuckle when the coupler is buifed rearwardly and a lifting force having a forward component is applied to the lifter member 2, as occurs with certain types of uncoupling mechanisms, the rear side of said member is provided with a shoulder 3 which, when the parts are in normal or locked position as kshown in Fig. 1, lies slightly below the top of the shoulder 9. Now, if the coupler happens to be buffed back andthe uncoupling rod applies an upward and forward force to member 2 the shoulder 3 is raised until it contactswith the shelf or ledge 10 and then as the pull on the member 2 con- K tinues, said shoulder 3 is cammed forwardly and out from under the ledga, by reason of the forward component of the pull, thus causing the lower end ofthe member 2 to swing forwardly and to carry with it the upper end of the member 3, whereby the shoulder 9 of the latter is withdrawn from under said ledge.

The features vabove mentioned are described in greater detail in my pending application hereinbefore referred to.

In carrying Voutmy present invention, I mount in the hollow portion of member 2 a latch member soVv 11 provided withv a `slot 12 through which passes a pin 13 secured to said member 2. Said pin 13 may conveniently be mounted in openings in the v in the position shown in'Fig. 1, the latch member 11 drops down relative to the lower member 3r until its shoulder 1li lies immediately in front of the shoulder 22 of member 3, in the bifurcated portion of member 2. `An inter-lock between the two' members is thereby provided which prevents the shoulder 9 frombeing shifted out from under the ledge 1i), even under extremely high speeds of impact coupling. Theslot 12 is preferably formed so that the member 1l, in lock-to-the-lock position, will rest on the lower member 3, by reason of a slight clearance between the pin 13 and top of the slot. This clearance also allows for variations in the parts and permits the latch member 11 to assume a lower position in the plug or member 2 as the lock wears and settles downwardly in the coupler head.

In this construction, the lock may be unlocked by lifting member 2, whereupon said member will first be raised with respect to member 3, and

as the pin 13 engages the top of the slot 12, willv carry along with it member 11, withdrawing shoulder 14 from the path of shoulder 22 as shoulder 9 is swung out from beneath the ledge 10 by pin '7; then both members- 2V and. 3 will be moved upwardly to operate the lock to vlock-set or to knuckle-throw position; or, in other words, from the general position o-f the partsy in Fig. 1 to their position in Fig. 3. In the latter view the lock is shown raised to lock-set position and lift member 2 is shown dropped down to the position where the lower end of its rear wall 2 rests on the upper end of member 3, the parts being capa-., ble of remaining in this position until positively returned to locking position. It may be noted that the bottom end of the safety latch 11 also.

rests on top of the member 3, and does not hinder any pivotal movement between members 2 and 3.

In coupling cars, it is usually the case that the knuckle of one coupler is closed with the parts in locked position, while the next car has its knuckle open for engaging the first coupler. At unusually high speeds of impact coupling of cars in this manner, a severe blo-w may be imparted to the rst-named coupler. Due to this blow and the inertia of the parts of the lock-to-theflock, these parts tend to swing forwardly in the coupler heady into the general position shown in Fig. 2,l and there is ay tendency to throw the shoulder 9 entirely out from under the ledgev 10. If this. should happen, there would be nothing to prevent the lock and lock lift from rising. As there usually a small amount of droop to the coupler.

head, when the two couplers come together under a severe impact, they snap. up to a horizontal position, and this sudden action tends tov throw the lock up from its locking position. With the anti-creeping device momentarily out of commis,- sion, the lock might rise high enough to unlock the knuckle. The direction in which the lock rises is indicated at Y in Fig. 2, This would be undesirable because under such conditions. the cars would not be coupled. One of the principal features of the present invention hence residesin the provision of simple and effective means for preventing possible unlocking of the lock under the conditions just described. For this purpose, it has been found that the construction already described, including a latch such as member 11, is very satisfactory. As shown in Fig. 2, when the coupler is struck a hard blow in the direction of the arrow X and the inertia of the lifter members 2, 3 causes them to swing forward, the shoulder 9? on the lower member 3 engages the lower endV 14 of the safety latch 11 before said member 3. can

move forward sufficiently to withdraw the shoulder 9 from beneath the anti-.creep ledge 10.k Due to the bearing of the forward edge of saidrlatch member against the front wall of lifter member 2 and the engagement of shoulder22 of Vmember 3- with shoulder 14 of the latch member,y said;- member 3 is blocked against` further forward,

movement, as shown in Fig. 2 and shoulderv 9 is. mamtainedbeneath ledgev 1 0.

y In order to further assure against unlocking the lock under sudden coupling forces, the fol lowing construction and arrangement is preferred. Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the latch member 11 is shown with a groove 21 for engaging a curved lug 20 on the inside of the forward wall of the lock liftv member 2. This groove and lug construction is preferably such that the lug lies in the groove when the member 11 is in position where it engages the shoulder 22 of member 3. The shoulder 22 may be undercut, as shown at 9', to provide a seat receiving the shoulder 14 of the latch member 11.

As will be apparent, the lug 20 in cooperation with the surface of the groove 21, together with the end portion 14 of member 11 in conjunction with the surface of shoulder 22, positively prevent the latch member 11 from being squeezed upwardly in the member 2. Due to the cooperation of groove 21 with lug 20, it will be seen that any movement of latch 1 1 upwardly would necessitate that the latch 1.1 move in the direction of the arrow X. However, as previously noted, upon severe impact the, inertia of the members 2, 3, tends to swing them in the direction opposite to saidarrow, wherefore, as is clearl from Fig. 2 the latch 11 is effectively held in lowermost position. It may also be notedr that a groove 21', though not essentiaL, may be formed in the rear face of the member l1, similar to the groove 21, so that the mem-ber may be put in position either wayaround. The, undercut portion 9 of member 3 in conjunction with the groove 21 also act to prevent undesired movement of member 11 and if desired lug 20 may be omitted as shown in Fig. 4.

It may be noted that the top surface of the lifter member 3 connecting the shoulder 22 with the rear surface of said member is of sufficient width that the members 2, 3cannot move through the top opening in the coupler head until they have been sufficiently separated to allow them to` swing4 forwardly with relation to each other. This can only be done by lifting the top member 2, as by means of` an uncoupling rod.

When it is desired to; raise the lock foruncoupling the,v top member or plug 2 is first lifted upward an amount sufficient to take up the clear-` ance between the top ofthe connecting pin 7 and,l the upper end of the curved slot 8 in the member 3; During this movement the safety latch 11 isv being lifted by the member 2 and bythe time the clearance aforesaid is taken up the latch 11 has been lifted above the shoulder 22 andv the two parts of the lifter are thereafter free to..

straighten out and be lifted Vup through the hole in the top ofthe coupler head. as shown in Fig. 3,

I As soon as the lock drops to; locking position, thek members 2 and gswingrearwardly to the posi-Y tion of Fig..1 and the latch 11v drops down to its;

. working position.

It; will thus be apparent that the present conf. struction providesfor embodying, in constructions according to my copending-applicationf above r.e,

ferredtdvby simple changes,'means for securing the additional advantages. ofthe present construction. That is to. say, theonly changes which need be made in accordance With the preferred form of my invention are in the lift member 2 it r more mi meer 11 n i@ pin I3.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications are possible Within. the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

l. In a coupling device including a lock and means to lock the lock comprising interconnected members for lifting the lock. and adapted to be moved into a position for locking said lock, means carried by and movable with respect to one of said members and adapted at times to be engaged by the other member for latching said other member in said locking position.

2. In a coupling device including a lock and means to lock the lool; comprising interconnected members for lifting the lock, means carried by and being slidable with respect to one of said members and engaging the other member for latching the other member in lock-to-the-lock position.

3. In a coupling device including a lock and means to loci; the lock comprising interconnected upper and lower members for lifting the lock and adapted to be moved into a position for locking said lock, means carried with the upper member for movement with respect thereto and adapted to overlap a portion of the other member for latching said other member in said locking position.

Zl. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, a two-part lifter connected to said lock,

i a stop on said head, a shoulder on one of the members of said lifter cooperating with said stop for locking the lock, and a latch member carried with and movable with respect to the other member and adapted to overlap a portion of the rstnamed member for preventing angular movement of the lifter members relative to each other in one direction.

5. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, a two-part lifter connected to said lock, a stop on said head, a shoulder on one of the members of said lifter cooperating With said stop for locking the lock, and means for latching the member against forward movement from under the stop comprising a latch member carried with and movable with respect to the other member oi the lifter and having a groove in its forward side for cooperation with a lug formed on the second-named member of the lifter.

6. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, a two-part lifter connected to said lock, a stop on said head, a shoulder on one of the members of said lifter cooperating with said stop for locking the lock, and means for latching said member against movement to positions -where it is out of cooperative relation with said stop, including a latch member carried with and movable with respect to the other lifter member,

a sot formed m tie latch member, and a, pin ttl@ gewild-named iiter member and engaging said slot for enabling said secondnamed lifter member to control said latch member.

7. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, a two-part lifter connected to said lock, a stop on said head, a shoulder on one of the meinbers of said lifter cooperating with said stop for locking the lock, and means for latching said member against movement to positions Where it is out of cooperative relation with said stop comprising a latch member having a shoulder thereon and being vertically movable with respect to the other litter member and carried thereby, said first-named lifter member having a shoulder for engagement by the shoulder on the latch member.

8. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, `a two-part lifter connected to said lock, a stop on said head, a portion of one of said lifter members cooperating with said stop to lock the lock, and means for latching said lifter member comprisinga movable latch carried by the other lifter member, said latter member having a projection formed on an inner wall thereof and said latch having a recess cooperating with said projection when the latch is in latching position.

9. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, a two-part lifter connected to said lock, a stop on said head to the rear oi said lock, a shoulder on one of the members of said lifter cooperating with said stop for locking the lock, and means engageable with said member for latching the same against forward movement when said member is in locking position, said means being carried by the other member of said lifter and movable vertically with respect thereto.

lo. In a car coupler, a head, a knuckle, a vercally movable lock for said knuckle, a two-part lifter connected to said lock, the members of said lifter being loosely connected together for assuming a certain position with respect to each other during lifting of the look and a different position with respect to each other when the lock is in knuckle locking position, one of said members having a portion underlying a ledge of the coupler head to prevent upward movement of the lock when in locking position, and means comprising another member movable with respect to both said lifter members and cooperating therewith for maintaining said portion under said ledge While said lock is in locking position.

ll. In a car coupler, a head, a vertically movable lock, a two-part lifter connected to said lock, a stop on said head tc the rear of said lock, a shoulder on one of the members of said lifter cooperating with said stop for locking the lock, and means for latching said member against forward movement when said member is in locking position, said means being carried by and being slidable With respect to the other member of said lifter.

ARTHUR J. BAZELEY. 

